Our Service

We offer a discrimination casework service to anyone who thinks that they may have been discriminated against. On this website you will find information about our service as well as information on the law and what steps you can take if you think you have been unfairly treated.

This website concentrates primarily on employment issues – including unfair dismissal, which is a common linked claim with discrimination. That is because we generally will only assist with employment cases, although we can give you some general advice on pursuing a non employment claim and depending on whether it has particular importance to others, we may be able to refer you. We also have some information about taking a non employment claim forward through county court here.

Our Service
We have been running a discrimination casework service since 1998 and have dealt with many successful cases. We were originally funded by the Commission for Racial Equality and then the Equality & Human Rights Commission to deliver this service free of charge, but from April 2012 grants have ended and we now offer this service on a chargeable basis.

Our charges
Because our primary aim is to make sure that people who have experienced discrimination are able to get access to justice we don’t make any up front charges for our services. We are not about making a profit, we just need to cover our costs. So if you use our service we will ask you to sign up to an agreement that allows us to take 35% of any award or settlement. That might sound a lot, but it means that you the client doesn’t have to take any risks – you won’t have to pay anything until you secure your settlement or award at court or tribunal. Any money that we do make is ploughed back into the organisation to help other people in a similar situation.

What do we do?
We will deal with your case right from the beginning until the end. That means that we will give you initial advice, deal with all correspondence and advocacy at hearings. We will essentially act for you in all aspects of the case.

Do you only deal with discrimination work?
Our main work is discrimination casework, but that is often linked with general employment claims which we run as well. If you think that you have just a pure employment case, and you are struggling to get support – we may be able to assist, depending on your particular circumstances.

Do I have to live in Cheshire to access the service?
The short answer is no. Although we are based in Chester, anyone who lives in England or Wales (the law is different in Scotland) can use our service. If you live further away we may need to do more via telephone and e-mail, but that is all. Anyone can come to us who thinks they have been discriminated against.